Antique French Brass Bouillotte Table Lamp, Two-Arm with Metal Drum Shade — France, mid 20th Century

The bouillotte lamp was invented for the card table and never entirely left it. Named after the French gambling game played by candlelight in the salons of the late eighteenth century, it solved a specific problem with unusual elegance: how to light a table from above without blinding those seated around it. The shade — a metal cylinder, closed at the top, open at the bottom — directed all the light downward while leaving faces in shadow. The shade lowers along the stem as the candles burn down, keeping the light always just above the flames — a mechanism so precisely considered that it remained unchanged from the Directoire period through the Empire and well into the twentieth century.

This lamp is French, mid twentieth century, in polished brass throughout. The base is a circular platform with a beaded edge, from which two candle arms extend on either side, each ending in a turned socket and a wide flat bobèche. The central brass stem rises through the shade's locking adjustment mechanism — a side-mounted lever collar that holds the drum shade at any height along the rod — to a turned finial at the crown. The drum shade is a plain metal cylinder in a warm cream-gold interior finish with a dark exterior, its simplicity giving the lamp a composed, desk-ready authority. Note how every element of the lamp — base edge, arm turnings, stem collar, finial — is worked in the same warm polished brass, the material consistency that gives the bouillotte its characteristic unity: a lamp that looks as complete from any angle as it does from the front.

The brass is sound and warm throughout; the shade is present and undamaged; the lamp is in full working order. It arrives fully rewired and ready to use, plug adapted to your country at no charge.

It arrives professionally packed and fully insured. All duties and import charges are our responsibility — you pay nothing beyond the listed price. Returns are accepted within 30 days.

DETAILS:
Size: Height approximately 44 cm (17.3 in) · Shade diameter approximately 20 cm (7.9 in) — as read from photos
Material: polished brass throughout; metal drum shade
Style/Period: French Empire tradition, mid 20th century
Sockets: two — fully rewired and ready to use; plug adapted to your country (US/UK/EU) at no extra charge
Lampshades: metal drum shade included
Shipping: professionally packed, fully insured, worldwide — all import duties paid by us, nothing to settle on delivery
Condition: very good; brass sound and warm throughout; shade present and undamaged; fully functional
Returns: accepted within 30 days

Read our condition standard. Please ask if you need additional photographs or measurements.

Worldwide delivery is included in the price. Every piece is individually packed, tracked and fully insured. No shipping charge is added at checkout. If your destination is not listed, please contact us before ordering.

Maison Jaspers pays US tariffs and import duties. For other destinations, local import taxes and duties may apply and are payable by the recipient. Contact us before ordering if you need destination-specific guidance.

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Delivery information

Notify us within 30 days of delivery if you wish to return a piece. No reason is required. You pay return shipping for a change-of-mind return.

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